Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-03906

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to undertake to restore stability in the market for milk and whether it intends to make representations to Her Majesty's Government to put in place measures which will protect farmers against the development of any buyer's monopoly in the milk market.

The Scottish Executive has sympathy for dairy farmers who are in financial difficulty through having to adjust to lower raw milk prices. However, in what is now an unregulated market, the Executive's ability to influence the position is limited.Competition policy is a reserved matter and the Monopolies and Mergers' Commission produced a detailed report in February 1999 on the supply of raw cows' milk in Great Britain. Any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour should be passed direct to the Office of Fair Trading.

Question reference: S1W-03582

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the National Planning Policy Guideline No 8 to be observed at all times or whether it considers that exceptions to these guidelines can be made and, if so, under what circumstances would adherence to them be waived.

Planning decisions should be made in accordance with the provisions of the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. National Planning Policy Guideline 8 is an important material consideration, which indicates that planning permission should be refused where developments are not consistent with the development plan and cannot meet all the considerations listed in paragraph 45 of the Guideline.

Question reference: S1W-03581

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies, if any, have been conducted into the impact on employment following the construction of an out-of-town retail development.

Question reference: S1W-03239

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 21 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes, if any, there will be to Scotland's share of the new round of European Leader funding.

Question reference: S1W-03236

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 21 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to secure European Leader funding for Scotland's rural areas.

Question reference: S1W-03238

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 21 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place in Scotland to deal with applications for the new round of European Leader funding.

Question reference: S1W-03237

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 21 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what structures it intends to put in place to distribute Leader funding to additional areas which will become eligible for funding under the new round.

European Commission proposals for LEADER Plus are currently being considered by Member States. The Scottish Executive is fully involved in developing the UK position. Once the guidelines are established and the UK share confirmed, the Scottish Executive will be working to ensure a fair share of resources for Scotland. Options for the precise arrangements for selecting areas and implementation will be considered in the due course.

Question reference: S1W-00928

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 August 1999
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 17 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what were the numbers of cancellations of planned admissions for in patient and day patient treatment due to: (a) unavailability of intensive care or high dependency beds; (b) unavailability of consultants, and (c) patients having a medical condition which prevents treatment being undertaken, in Ayrshire and Arran health boards over the past three years, broken down by quarter year.

The information available on the trend in all cancellations of admissions by hospitals within the Ayrshire and Arran Health Board area, where the patient's medical condition is not the reason for cancellation is listed in column 1 of the table. Information on the specific reasons underlying these cancelled admissions is not held centrally. Column 2 of the table lists those patients admitted to hospital in Ayrshire and Arran's Health Board area and subsequently sent home without receiving their planned treatment due to a medical condition.

Ayrshire & Arran Health Board area of treatment - Cancellations of hospital admission, and elective admissions where an operation/procedure was not carried out because of contraindication; quarters ending 30 June 1996 - 1 March 1999

	Column 1	Column 2
Quarter Ending	Cancellations made by hospitals prior to admission^1,2	Patients admitted but where an operation/procedure was not carried out because of contraindication³
1996-97
30 June 1996	37	126
30 September 1996	64	90
31 December 1996	34	124
31 March 1997	44	107
	179	447

1997-98
30 June 1997	49	89
30 September 1997	49	99
31 December 1997	45	113
31 March 1998	98	122
	241	423

1998-99^p
30 June 1998^p	60	97
30 September 1998^p	67	99
31 December 1998^p	41	126
31 March 1999^p	181	113
	349	435

^{p Provisional
Notes:}

1. Based on cancellations made by hospital of admission from the waiting list.Source: ISD Scotland

Question reference: S1W-00927

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 August 1999
Current Status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 17 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people admitted to accident and emergency at Ayr Hospital and Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock: (a) had been admitted to either of these two hospitals at any point in the previous year, and (b) had been admitted with a complaint related to that for which they had previously received treatment from Ayrshire and Arran health board in the preceding year, in (i) 1994; (ii) 1995; (iii) 1996; (iv) 1997, and (v) 1998.

Question reference: S1W-03240

Asked by: Adam Ingram, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 24 December 1999

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are currently in place in Scotland to distribute European Leader funding.